Police identify slaying suspect

Shooter opened fire in restaurant, witnesses say

The first shots were fired inside the Lauderhill restaurant early Sunday morning, one witness said. Alin Xiomara and one of her cousins, Jose Henriquez, fled, made it to her car and got in. Then they turned and saw her other cousin, Ivan Henriquez Flores, on the ground in front of the restaurant.

"Ivan!" they screamed. They ran to him and held him and kept screaming his name. He tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth. They watched him die, one of two men fatally shot at the restaurant-nightclub that night.

On Monday, Xiomara and Jose Henriquez, the victim's older brother, sat in their Wilton Manors home. As they cried and looked at pictures of Henriquez Flores hugging them and smiling, police searched for Victor Gonzales, 20, of North Lauderdale. Gonzales is the man police suspect fatally shot Henriquez Flores and an acquaintance, Jose Garcia, 20, of Fort Lauderdale, at Los Tios restaurant.

After he was shot, Garcia ran a short distance and collapsed at the side of the building. He was taken to Broward General Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Police interviewed witnesses and named Gonzales as a suspect Monday. They didn't know the motive for the slayings, police Lt. Rick Rocco said.

Before the shooting, Garcia told Henriquez Flores they should leave the restaurant, where they had been dancing, Xiomara said. Garcia said he saw someone who wanted "to start trouble with him," Xiomara said. As they neared the door, the gunman began firing.

Gonzales and Garcia have had numerous run-ins with the law, state records show. Relatives of Gonzales could not be reached Monday for comment by phone. No one answered the door at Gonzales' apartment Monday night.

According to records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement:

Gonzales, who was on probation for traffic-related violations, had been labeled a "habitual traffic offender" by the state during the past decade. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. In 1999, he pleaded no contest to driving without a driver's license and having an unlawful tag. Garcia was charged in 2005 with fleeing and eluding a police officer and pleaded no contest last year. In the same incident, he was charged with aggravated battery on a police officer or firefighter, but the outcome of that case was unclear from court records. He also was convicted of burglary last year.

Henriquez Flores, 24, a Honduran native, was working in construction and planned to return to his homeland at the end of the year to open a construction and maintenance company, relatives said. They scheduled his funeral for Thursday in Lauderhill.

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call 954-497-4719 or Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 954-493-TIPS.

Staff Researcher Jeremy Milarsky contributed to this report.

Juan Ortega can be reached at jcortega@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2004.